There has been no known method for direct observation of circuit activity at a transistor level within an Integrated Circuit (IC) during operation in a system environment (e.g., while operating as a computer) Observation of the internal switching behavior during normal operation of an IC would greatly enhance the IC industry capability to bring reliable product to market faster. The initial debug phase of a computer, referred to as “system bring-up” is extremely important to execute rapidly, as the length of time a system is in bring-up gates introducing the system to market. The identity and behaviour of individual transistors contributing to faulty system operation is not generally available by conventional means and is enabled by this invention. Timing related failures are particularly difficult to isolate to their root cause by conventional means. This invention describes a means for performing logic and timing analysis within circuit components. It relates to the commonly owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/683,837, entitled NONINVASIVE OPTICAL METHOD FOR MEASURING INTERNAL SWITCHING AND OTHER DYNAMIC PARAMETERS OF CMOS CIRCUITS, filed Jul. 18, 1998, which describes the basic technique. The present invention describes a system and method which can utilize this new technology for system bring-up as well as characterization and diagnostics in either a system environment or a conventional tester-based environment.